Follow us on TwitterHow to test Moblin from a USB stick
Posted by Steve Greer on August 16, 2009 in Netbook Market, Operating Systems, Reviews
It is apparent that Windows XP’s days are numbered. So, naturally there is a lot of interest in several new operating systems being developed for netbooks.
This weekend, we are exploring Moblin (initially developed by Intel), Android (from Google), Kubuntu (from Canonical) and Windows 7 (from Microsoft). All of these are pre-production releases, so we expect some buginess.
There has been some talk about Acer releasing a netbook with Moblin loaded on it. So, first up is Moblin.
We wanted an easy way to test Moblin without installing it to your hard disk. We thought you might like to know, too. So here is how we did it.
Preparations
All you need is a 1 GB USB stick and a few minutes of your time.
There are a few things to keep in mind while testing Moblin on your netbook.
It is recommended that you have an Intel Atom N270 or N280 processor with the GMA950 chipset. I’ve read that Moblin does not have support for the GMA500 chipset as of yet.
While it is possible to create a bootable CD, I would also recommend booting from USB instead. I’ve done some testing with the Live CD an found it to be a very slow experience.
Steps to Create Live USB Stick
Here are the steps to create your own bootable USB key. This takes about 5 minutes and you are good to go.
1. Download the latest Moblin release from Moblin.org
2. Download Win32DiskImager.exe
3. Unzip the file and extract the contents to a known directory
4. Run W32DiskImager.exe (See screenshot below)
5. Select the Moblin Image File
6. Select the drive letter that represents your USB key
7. Select the “Write” button to byte-copy the image to the USB stick.
8. Presto! You have a bootable USB stick.
9. Make sure you set your bios to boot from USB before you try and boot.
10. Boot Moblin from your USB stick and Presto! You have Moblin available for testing.
I will make sure and post a video in the next day and share some of my experience using Moblin.
Just remember one thing while testing. This is a BETA release and does not represent the final release.
Unboxing of the Gigabyte TouchNote T1028X
Posted by Steve Greer on August 10, 2009 in Gigabyte Netbooks, Netbook Market
Brad Linder from Liliputing received a Gigabye TouchNote T1028X netbook today. Brad does a nice job covering the Touchbook and going over some of it’s features.
The Gigabyte TouchNote T1028X comes with the following features: Read the rest »
Asus Eee PC T91 netbook gets unboxed
Posted by Steve Greer on August 3, 2009 in Asus Netbooks, Netbook Market, Netbooks
The Asus Eee PC T91 has been shipped and reviews are starting to come in. JkkMobile just received their netbook today and have already posted the unboxing video.
The Asus Eee PC T91 is the first touch screen netbook to be launched by Asus. JkkMobile does a great job unboxing and covering the basics of the T91. I recommend watching this 9 minute video if you are interested in taking a closer look at the Asus Eee PC T91.
Microsoft’s Netbook Quandry
Posted by Tom Greer on August 1, 2009 in Netbook Market, Operating Systems
Windows 7
There is a lot of hubbub today about the Microsoft’s pricing plans for Windows 7 and the impact on the netbook market niche.
In a nutshell, Microsoft’s current plan is to have netbooks ship with a crippled version of Window 7 called the Starter Edition. Then to charge $80 to upgrade to the Home Premium Edition. With the typical purchase price of a netbook in the $300 – $400 range, this represent a 20% increase in the cost of a netbook.
To ensure that many netbook owners will be willing to fork over the the $80, Microsoft is crippling the Windows 7 Starter Edition by eliminating remote media streaming, changing desktop background and other “advanced” features.
Of course, netbook manufacturers can bypass all that by installing Windows 7 Home Premium at the factory. As a result, the list prices will rise by $50 or so.
We forecasted all this back in June in our article “Netbook Market: What Is Coming Next?“, where we said:
Asus Eee PC 1101HA gets unboxed
Posted by Steve Greer on July 21, 2009 in Asus Netbooks, Netbook Market, Netbooks
NewGadgets.de has just got their hands on the new Asus Eee PC 1101HA. Asus recently released the Eee PC 1005HAand Eee PC 1008HA with the 1101HA being the first 11.6 inch model for Asus.
While you look at the specs on this netbook you will see it has your typical 11.6-inch netbook build. There are features like the Intel Atom Z520 processor, 160Gb Hard Drive, Bluetooth, 6-cell battery, etc…
Asus Eee PC T91 Netbook now available
Posted by Steve Greer on July 21, 2009 in Asus Netbooks, Netbook Market, Netbooks
Are you in the market for an inexpensive tablet PC? If you are then the Asus Eee PC T91 might just be the netbook for you.
This is one of the first tablet netbooks to hit the market. Asus has equipped the T91 netbook with the Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz processor.
Which netbook are you planning to buy?
Posted by Steve Greer on July 17, 2009 in Netbook Market, Netbooks
Every once in a while I like to ask our readers what netbook they are looking at buying.
I can look at traffic reports and see what you are looking at, but I thought it would be much easier just asking straight up!
So, which netbook are you looking to buy? Please make a vote and let us know. We would love to see which one of these hot netbooks really turns you on!
Loading ...Samsung N310 Finally here!
Posted by Steve Greer on July 14, 2009 in Netbook Market, Netbooks, Samsung Netbooks
It’s coming!!!!! The Samsung N310 or as some say the Samsung GO is available for pre-order today from some of the following vendors listed below. This is sure to be a hot product this week. The Samsung N310 comes with all sorts of goodies and a fresh new look that people have been waiting for.
There are currently 4 colors available for purchase. Colors include, Blue, Mint Blue, Black, and Sunset. Which one is your favorite? Please feel free to comment if you purchase one and let us know what you think.
Click the Go! buttons on the widgets below to see current availability and prices for each of the colors.
| Samsung N310 160GB 6-Cell XP | |||
 | 10.1" Display (1024x600), 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, Intel GMA950, 1.0 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, 6-Cell Battery, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition | ||
Comes in:
| More Info | ||
Samsung N310 coming next week
Posted by Steve Greer on July 10, 2009 in Netbook Market, Netbooks, Samsung Netbooks
Newegg has released an unboxing video of the new Samsung N310 netbook.
Newegg is claiming to have the Samsung N310 in stock by end of next week. That would put it on shelves by the 19th of July.
The Samsung N310 is available for pre-order via J&R Electornics. They are still advertising the netbook as the N310.
There has been talk that Samsung is going to be rebranding the N310 to the Samsung Go.
Here is the video unboxing video of the Samsung N310. I know it’s not the best video. Maybe we should do one for the viewers!
Samsung N510 coming with some goodies
Posted by Steve Greer on July 9, 2009 in Netbook Market, Netbooks, Samsung Netbooks
Samsung is preparing to launch the new N510 series netbook. Listed below is the set of features that the N510 will have. You will see that Samsung will be using the Intel N280 processor that runs at 1.66GHz.
Here is what we know so far:
- 11.6-inch Display
- NVIDIA Ion Graphics Chipset
- Intel Atom N280 Processor
- 1GB RAM
- 160GB Hard Drive
- WiFi b/g/n
- HDMI Out
- 6-Cell Li-Ion battert
- Webcam
- Bluetooth
- Multi-format card reader
- Windows XP home
One of the big new features that the Samsung N510 will offer is the capability of playing high-definition video. The NVIDIA Ion Graphics chipset teamed up with the Intel Atom N280 processor makes this possible.
The display will have a 1,366 X 768 resolution which will make viewing high-definition video very nice.
One machine that would possibly rival the Samsung N510 is the Acer Aspire One 751. The Aspire One 751 will fall short when comparing it to the Samsung N510.
One of the issues the Aspire One 751 has is the lack of a powerful processor. It comes with the Intel Atom Z5XX series processor which is significantly slower than the Intel Atom N280.
This in return will not give the Aspire One 751 the capability to play high-definition video.
As we get close to a launch date for the Samsung N510 we will keep you posted. This is one of the netbooks that I personally am looking forward to getting my hands on!